


5 Times Fennox Proposed, and 1 Time They Said Yes

by Eliizabethx



Series: Shaylynx / Fennox [1]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Children, Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Kissing, Love, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Night Terrors, POV Alternating, POV Third Person, Pregnancy, Rough Kissing, Sappy Ending, Trauma, Unplanned Pregnancy, Warden & Hawke stay in the Fade, Weddings, post-Fade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:07:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21865342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eliizabethx/pseuds/Eliizabethx
Summary: Lennox Hawke and Fenris have been through a lot together, and I meana lot.Let's take a peek inside their post-Kirkwall life, and see how life has been treating them lately.Dedicated to Alynshir for her devious awful encouragement, and also for letting me write about Shay and Maeve~ <3
Relationships: Fenris/Female Hawke
Series: Shaylynx / Fennox [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575250
Comments: 12
Kudos: 34





	1. The Proposals ♥

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alynshir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alynshir/gifts).

**1.**

They all ran from Kirkwall. Together. 

They were together for longer than she had anticipated, to be honest, but eventually, they had to go their own way. 

Except for Fenris. 

"Nothing will keep me from you," he had said, and he'd meant it. 

They were braced against each other, breathing hard, peeking between the trees for signs of pursuit. 

His eyes were sharp and his jaw was tense. It sounded ridiculous, but she loved it when he was intent like this. His ears would twitch at the smallest sound, and his hands would clench like he was waiting to reach for his weapon. 

It was incredibly sexy. 

Hm, this might be how she ends up pressed against walls so often. 

"Fenris? Marry me." 

His eyes dart towards her face, scanning her expression. He quirked one eyebrow at her, an unreadable expression on his face. 

"Come again?" He asked. 

"Well, you promised me a future - lots of people include marriage in their future, just wondered if that was something you'd be interested in too?" 

He stares at her and she's starting to wonder if she should actually just shut up. 

And then he pushes her against a tree, and really, she probably should have seen that coming. When he pulls back she's breathless and trying to remember the question. 

"So... was that you saying yes?' 

He smirks at her, that self-satisfied thing that always makes her want to push _ him _ against something and kiss _ him _ senseless. 

"That is me saying move." 

"Wait, what?" 

And then she heard it too. 

And then they were running again. 

She never did get an answer, but that was alright. They had forever after all. 

**2.**

The cottage they were staying in was small, very small. With only a single room and a small bed tucked in the corner. 

"Hey, Fen?" 

"Hmm?" He was curled up on the armchair they'd pushed in front of the fireplace, reading a book they'd found on one of the dusty bookshelves. 

"I think I'm pregnant." 

He went very still. 

It felt as though his heart stopped for a moment, before beating hard and fast in his chest. His hand spasmed on the book, threatening to tear the pages before he made himself set it aside. 

"What did you say?" He asked, looking up to stare at her. 

She was watching him with a tentative sort of smile, the kind she used to give him after he had foolishly left her all those years ago, cautious and unsure. It made something inside him squirm with discomfort, remembering that, remembering how much hurt they had both gone through. 

"I'm pregnant," she said again, less flippant this time as she watched for his reaction. He took a deep breath and made himself relax his posture. 

"You're sure?" 

"Well no, but there have been some rather large signs that all point in that direction." Her hands anxiously run through her hair. "I've missed two or three months, which I had thought was stress at first, but now I've started putting on weight, despite eating less. We both know I've been getting weirdly exhausted lately, and Maker! The nausea. I'm _ really _ hoping I can just skip out on the constant vomiting." 

"Lynx." He reached out and snagged one of her hands, pulling her to stand in front of him. He ran his hands up and down her arms in soothing motions, watching her shoulders un-tense and her face relax. He gently pulled her forward and she easily climbed onto his lap, settling herself sideways and throwing her legs over one of the arms. "We will find a healer for you." 

She tucked her head against his shoulder and neck as he rubbed her back. "It's occurred to me that we've never really talked about this before, having children rather. What are you thinking?" 

"I... am not entirely sure, I was not expecting this," he admits. "I have never put much thought into having children, I wasn't sure I even could because of the markings... I would like to hear your thoughts." 

"I've always thought I wouldn't mind having a couple. It wasn't something I'd thought of much in Kirkwall though. Or after for that matter." She wrapped her arms around herself, pressing closer against him. "This wouldn't have been when I'd choose to have one, but..." 

"But what?" 

She hesitated before pulling back enough to see his face. "I think I'd like to keep it, if I actually am pregnant." 

He nodded, keeping his expression neutral as he tried to decipher his own feelings. 

"I understand if you need time to think about everything, I just want to know if you're... upset I suppose?" 

"I am not upset. It's not as though you managed this on your own," he said, giving her a small teasing smile that seemed to relax her. His heart ached a little as he realized what was worrying her. "Lennox..." 

He framed her face with his hands and kissed her. She looked caught off guard when he pulled back and he couldn't help pressing another kiss to her forehead. "I will not leave you again, I swear it, and certainly not because of this." 

She swallowed and nodded wordlessly, relaxing into him again. 

They remained like that for a few more hours, just enjoying each other's presence, before he made them get up, determined to have her eating more going forward. She indulged him in his hovering, seeming to find reassurance in his concern. If he was a bit more overly affectionate than usual she said nothing, seeming to relish every touch or word, but reluctant to initiate anything on her own. 

He leads them to the bed sometime later, guiding her in first before slipping in behind her, not hesitating to pull her back against him and wrap around her. 

She fell asleep slowly, but he stayed awake with his thoughts, finding it easier to sort himself out in the quiet darkness. 

He tentatively raised one of his hands to settle gently over her stomach, still flat and defined from her training. He tried to imagine it, the two of them with a child. It was... a strangely intriguing thought. 

She was right, the timing was anything but ideal, and yet he found himself... wanting. 

"Lennox?" He called softly, brushing her hair away from her face and pressing his lips to her ear as she stirred. "Amatus, wake up." 

"Hmm?" She mumbled incoherently, her head turning slightly towards him. "What's wrong?" 

He kissed her jaw and held her tight against him. "I love you." 

He felt her smile, still half-asleep. "Love you too." 

"If you _ are _ pregnant, I would also like to keep the baby," he said, kissing her again. 

She turned in his arms and wrapped herself around him in turn, pressing her lips to his neck. She was smiling. "Okay, then we'll figure it out." 

"Yes," he said. " Go back to sleep now." 

"Mmm, love you, Fen." 

When her breathing evened out again he pressed his lips to the crown of her head and pulled the covers tighter around them, contemplating the brilliant woman in his arms. 

"Marry me." 

She made a content noise in her sleep and pressed her nose up under his jaw. He smiled against her hair and finally closed his eyes to sleep. 

**3.**

She tilts her head, confused for a second before- 

"Fenris!" She yells, a smile stretching her face almost painfully. 

She hears leaves shaking and branches snapping before Fenris appears in front of her, looking concerned and gripping the hilt of his sword. 

"What's wrong?" Fenris demands, looking around for danger. 

"Come here! Quick, quick, quick!" She runs up and takes his hands, pulling them to her stomach and holding them flat. 

He looks deeply confused for a moment before a look of unmasked wonder breaks over his face, the gentlest little nudge pushing against the palm of his hand. 

His eyes dart to her face and her smile gentles as she covers his hands with her own. "Come on, Baby, you were going wild a few seconds ago," she said towards her hand, squeezing his hands. "Don't you want to show off for Papa?' 

Her words are met with a solid kick that has Fenris' ears dipping down and his expression going heartbreakingly tender. She can't restrain her delighted laugh, and he smiles widely at her. 

She can't help but surge forward to kiss him quickly, laughing again half-way through as Baby starts kicking again. 

He kisses her once more before dropping to his knees and sliding his hands around her back, pressing his ear to the center of her stomach and closing his eyes in content. 

There were few more kicks before Baby seemed to settle down, Fenris still holding her close. He seemed to be working through something suddenly, but she was perfectly content to stay like this as long as he needed. 

She brought her hands up to run through his hair as his shoulders started gently shaking. He tried to pull away for a second but she just held him still, starting to hum a lullaby her mother used to sing. 

He shook for a few moments longer before taking a deep, trembling breath and turning his head to press an achingly sweet kiss to the place Baby had been kicking, resting his forehead against her as he regained his composure. 

When his breathing is even again he looks up at her with those beautiful eyes of his, a more peaceful smile on his lips than she was expecting, that she can't help but return. 

"Will you marry me?" She asks, soft and easy. 

She's still not sure when this became a Thing between them, became another version of _ I love you _ , but the way the affection and _ love _ shine in his eyes whenever she says it... It doesn't matter when. 

He slowly pushes himself back to his feet and raises his hands to press their foreheads together, quietly breathing with each other. His hands move from her face to her hair and pulls her into a kiss, less frantic than the majority of their kisses, but still passionate. 

"I love you, Lennox." 

She smiles against his lips.   


**4.**

"Congratulations, Serah, you have a daughter." The healer smiled warmly at him but he couldn't take his eyes off the squirming bundle she held out to him. 

He carefully took his daughter (his _ daughter _) from her, still nervous he would hurt or drop the baby, but feeling physically incapable of not holding her close to him. 

He was vaguely aware of the healer tending to his Hawke but he couldn't take his eyes from his baby. 

She was so small and red-flushed and still a little sticky from birth. 

She was _ perfect _. 

He carefully ran a corner of the cloth she was wrapped in over her head, trying to dry the mass of black hair. He'd thought babies were bald when they were born. 

She was perfect. 

He looked up to share this moment with Lennox and found her already watching them, a breathtaking exhausted smile stretched across her face. 

She was beautiful. 

He didn't hesitate to climb onto the bed with her when the healer gave her permission after cleaning the baby more thoroughly, telling them to rest. 

"You're safe here, I'll check on you later." 

He passed the baby to Lennox and he suddenly watched what was likely his own reaction play out on her face. Her hand smoothed gently over the top of the baby's head. 

"Oh Fen, look what we made," she said, tears standing in her eyes as she watched their baby yawn. "She's perfect." 

He smiled at the echoed words, running a careful finger over her tiny fist, feeling his own eyes tear up when that fist curls tight around him. His markings pulse gently, as overwhelmed as the rest of him, and he freezes when the baby makes a small noise. Lennox raises her free hand to the baby's other fist and finds herself similarly captured. 

He watches his little baby fall asleep, her fists tightening rhythmically on their fingers, her head resting over her mother's heart. 

He looks at Lennox with her sweat-damp hair still plastered to her neck and forehead, her freckles standing out against her wan complexion and he feels peace like he's never known. A sense of assurance in his place here, at this moment, that nearly chokes him. 

"Marry me," he says without really thinking, looking up to meet her tired eyes. Her smile is beautiful and she presses a kiss to their baby's head before carefully leaning up to kiss him as well. 

He slips one of his arms behind her so that she can snuggle close to his shoulder and chest, and his other remains captive to his daughter's firm grip. 

There is nothing he wouldn't do for them, and nowhere he wouldn't go.   


**5.**

They're finally on their way to Skyhold. Something she honestly hadn't expected. 

They've made camp for the night, she and Fenris are sitting in front of their claimed tent, far enough from the fire for a sense of privacy while still taking in its warmth. Lynx has her head resting on his shoulder, their hands are entwined and there's a peaceful expression on his face. 

"... You came for me." Her voice is barely audible but his ear twitches. "You pulled me out of the _ Fade _." 

Her hands tighten around his before she suddenly climbs into his lap, curling up and hiding her face against the side of his neck. She's trembling and her breath is hitching, but no tears fall. His arms wrap around her and he presses a kiss to the crown of her head, breathing in her familiar scent. 

"I told you nothing would keep me from you, not even your own reckless decisions." His voice rumbles soothingly near her ear. 

A breathless chuckle slips through her almost-sobs and she presses a kiss of her own next to the Lyrium lines on his throat. 

"I love you." 

"As I love you." 

"Will you marry me?" 

She feels him smile against her head and suddenly she can't breathe. She pulls away from him and sucks in deep breaths, her hands grasp his shoulders to keep herself steady. 

"Lennox?" He asks, clearly alarmed and his hands are tight on her waist, a soothing pressure that helps pull her back. "You're safe, you're here with me. I won't let you go so easily. You're here." 

Bless this man for knowing exactly what to say, but Maker, part of her still whispers that it's a trick. Reminds her of Varric and Isabela betraying her in the Fade. Tells her that she's still trapped, that she's never going to see her daughter again - her _ baby_. 

His lips crash against hers, the same way they did when he first found them in the Fade. This time she responds in kind, returning the kiss near viciously as she grasps for a sense of reality. He seems to understand, but then he always has. For all the disparities between them, their cores have always been a riveting sort of parallel. 

The others never quite understood it, understood them. He was so hard and cold and bitter, and she was so kind and helpful and optimistic. They thought she wanted to help him, which was true, but they never understood how he helped _ her. _ They thought it was "opposites attract" but it wasn't, they were never opposite, just different. 

He holds her tight enough to bruise and she _ wants him to _. She nips at his lips until he parts them for her and she deepens the kiss immediately, she coaxes him into sucking and biting at her lips until they're red and swollen and possibly bleeding. And when she breaks away with a ragged gasp he moves to her neck and bites her there too, leaving his marks the way she knows he loves, the way he knows she needs. 

When her collarbones are sufficiently decorated he pulls back, breathing hard himself, and stares at her. 

Her hands release their death grip on his hair, fingers going gentle now as she carefully pulls apart the tangles she made. 

She's still panting but it's not because of panic anymore, she nods and he pulls her in for a gentler kiss. Something sweet on the corner of her mouth that she returns to the three dots on his forehead. 

"Fenris..." She hesitates, trying to find the words to explain what she _ needs _. He waits patiently as always, hands resting reassuringly on her hips. "Marry me?" 

He looks concerned now. "Lennox?" 

"I know we've made this a bit of a game between us, swapping proposals, only being half-serious," she says in a rush. "But I'm not joking right now. I love you and what we have, I'll be fine with it staying the way it is if that's what you want, but Fen..." 

She pulls away from him, straightening up on her knees as she pulls his hands from her, holding them in hers. "Fenris, will you marry me?" 

His mouth is gaping slightly and he seems genuinely caught off guard. 

She squeezes his hands gently, raising the left to kiss his knuckles, lingering on the ring finger. 

He pulls his hands away and for one second she worries, but in the next second he grasps the sides of her face and surges forward to kiss her ruthlessly, snatching the breath from her lungs. 

"Yes," he says simply, his mouth still pressed to hers as he repeats the word in between more kisses. 

She's smiling now, her face flushed in delight as she presses herself close to him again, wrapping her whole body around him as he chuckles at her. 

"We could do it at Skyhold, plenty of holy people around," she said against his neck, smiling so wide it almost hurt. 

"If you'd like," he said, smiling against her cheekbone before putting his arms under her hips and standing up, carrying her into their tent. 

"I wonder if the Inquisitor can marry people? I mean she's the 'Herald of Andraste' right? What's the point of being Andraste's big bad if she can't marry people." 

He openly laughs as he kneels and drops her on their bedrolls. They both start undressing each other, motions a familiar habit. "I cannot say, perhaps you can ask her. Though I'm unsure how willing she would be, I admittedly did not make the best first impression." 

"What, did you crush someone's heart in front of her? Did she get all squeamish?" She teased back, setting his gauntlets aside. "I feel like it'd be fitting for our weird life actually, getting married by her... Maybe I could guilt her into it." 

He just hums noncommittally. "Bethany should still be at Skyhold, I'm sure she will be very excited to hear of our engagement." 

She visibly perks up, pausing in the process of crawling under the covers. "Bethy is at Skyhold? Oh, that's wonderful! She'd have been _ so mad _ if we'd gotten married without her there." 

He climbs in beside her, wrapping himself around her like he can protect her from her dreams, because he _ knows _, knows that her hands are shaking where they hold the blankets, knows that she's terrified to sleep tonight (especially now). 

He seems to be hesitating on something as well and she tightens her arms around his waist in reassurance. "You truly want to marry me? To tie yourself to me?" 

Only in the dark, in their shared bed, with her safely encased in his arms (or him in hers) has he ever felt comfortable enough to ask for such reassurances and she gives them without hesitation. "There's only one thing I want more right now, and conveniently I'll get both when we reach Skyhold." 

He smiles against her hair, his own breathing shaky now. "Marry me, Hawke?" 

She kisses his chin and then his lips, pressing her wide smile into them. "Yes." 

They don't end up sleeping that night, both of them too overwhelmed in too many ways to rest. But she doesn't mind, it means she doesn't have to face the Fade for one more night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact! As far as I know, this is the 2nd longest fic I've ever written! ♥  
I hope you enjoyed! Please feel free to leave a comment, I always reply and they make my week! ^^  
You can find me on tumblr at [ElvhenWitch](http://www.elvhenwitch.tumblr.com) ♥ and twitter at a [Elfbich](https://twitter.com/elfbich)


	2. The Marriage ♥

**(Bonus) 6.**

They don't actually get married as soon as they get back to Skyhold. 

There's a lot of readjusting when they first get back, and she refuses to let Leta out of her sight almost the whole first week they're back. 

There's an irrational fear that lingers and more than once she finds herself seeking out Shay, confiding her fear that all of this is an Illusion. That if she looks away her Baby will disappear like smoke, and she'll be alone in an empty green waste. 

Constantly her thoughts swirl back to the headstones they saw in the Fade, to her name written above that one word. "Abandoned" 

She wakes nightly from nightmares and has a moment of pure terror where she cannot distinguish Waking from Dreaming. She learns to suppress the screaming after the first few days, but Fenris still wakes with her. He pulls her back to him (mentally and physically) with words, or touch, or sex. Sometimes she'll still shake and tremble for hours, even after, and Fenris will get Leta from her bed and bring her to theirs and she'll hold her Baby close, and _cry_.

Fenris was not without his own fears after the Fade. He was as reluctant to let her out of his sight as she was. She woke with new marks and bruises almost every morning, a physical reminder for both of them.

It's the second week of slipping from their bed before first light and climbing to the top of the towers with Shay, sitting in the frozen air and watching the sunrise, the soldiers make their rounds, the keep coming to life beneath them. It's the second week of finding hidden corners where she can still hear the noises of Skyhold while she breaks, silent as always. It's the second week when she finds herself wandering with Leta in her arms and finds herself in the rotunda, Solas looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a willing ear.

It's the end of the second week when she can bear to stay in bed after waking from a nightmare. 

It's a month before them getting married starts feeling Real. Someone leaves a dress in their room for her (she suspects Josephine or maybe Leliana), Varric somehow produces two rings that fit perfectly and one day she enters the garden to find that Bethany, Kieran, and Leta have decorated it with garlands and silk streamers.

Two days after that Bethany is helping her get dressed and is braiding flowers into her hair, and she feels absolutely ridiculous and ridiculously happy.

When Bethy leaves to check on the kids she stares at her reflection in the mirror and forcibly pushes away the shadows creeping at the edges of her joy, chanting "it's real, it's real, it's real... you wouldn't feel afraid if it wasn't" under her breath, over and over. She sees movement in the mirror and looks up to see Shay standing in the doorway, her head resting against the frame and watching her. Her found sister - bound through pain and fear and fierce, determined loyalty. 

"Tell me it's real, Shay." She asks, quiet as the breeze, watching her reflection as her expression shudders through several emotions before settling on determination. "I need to hear it now or I'm going to shatter when I see him out there."

"It's real, Lynx... it _has_ to be," she says, and her voice doesn't shake. 

She looks down, breathing deep and smoothing out the wrinkles she's squeezed into her borrowed dress. "It feels too _good_."

Shay's hands squeeze her shoulders before spinning her around to face her, crouching down in front of her and looking for something in her face. Her eyes land on her neck and she snorts a laugh, some of the tension bleeding out of the air. "Are you really getting married with a bunch of hickeys all over your neck?" 

She manages to pull a laugh out of her. "Yes. They make me feel better-" Her eyes light up as she cuts herself off, Shay instantly looks wary, already familiar with her various shades of trouble. "I need you to slap me!" 

Shay stares blankly at her like she just told her the Orlesians had figured out the meaning of life. "What?" 

"Slap me! Do it properly though, so I know for sure." 

She blinked slowly at her. "You want me to slap you... right before you get married?" 

"I'll already have the hickeys, why not? So people think we're really kinky in bed, it's my wedding day, it's not like they can say shit." She shrugged, honestly thinking it was a brilliant idea. "You can call it my wedding present." 

She snorted but she was already standing up. "You really are fucking weird, you know that, right?" 

"Not the first time I've heard that." 

A second after she finishes speaking her head turns to the side with the force of Shay's smack, the sound ringing out as they hear a gasp from the doorway and both of them look to see Bethy standing there, looking torn between shock and frustration. 

"What... in the Void?" She asks slowly, looking between them. 

"Uhh, just some quick business we had to take care of. Not to worry, Warden Hawke, it's all handled now!" Shay quickly pats her shoulder and then edges around Bethany for the door, definitely fleeing. "I'll leave you both to it!" 

Bethany turns to look at her pointedly and all she can do is shrug, reaching up to prod at her throbbing cheek. _Perfect_.

"I leave you alone for five minutes and come back to you being slapped... why am I even surprised, honestly?" Bethy reached out for her cheek, magic already gathered at her fingertips to smooth away the sting, but she caught her wrist gently and pulled it away from her face. Bethany quirked an eyebrow at her in confusion. 

"It's a reminder... Can we just leave it?" She asked, not quite able to meet her little sister's eyes. 

Bethy gripped her wrist in return and slipped her other hand to the back of her neck, pressing their foreheads together gently. "Look at me, Lynx." 

She looked up as Bethy's hand moved to hold her chin instead. 

"_Never_ be ashamed of your fear," she said fiercely. "Do _not_ feel ashamed of your hurts, do you understand me? You came home to us, you _survived_, that's enough. We'll all help with the rest, alright?" 

She nodded, blinking back tears. 

"Good." She pulled away and picked up some powder. "We'll just go a little heavier on the blush, just so you don't look horribly pale in comparison."

It felt like minutes later when she was standing outside near the garden listening to Leliana's lute as she watches Bethy arrange the kids to walk out before her. She feels Varric step up beside her and looks down to smile brightly at him, getting one in return. The fear is still there but the sting in her cheek as her smile pushes on the slap keeps her steady and she reaches out to squeeze Varric's hand, feeling tears prick at her eyes again. 

Varric pulls her hand and she crouches down with a laugh, trying to catch her tears before they smear Bethy's careful makeup. Varric brushes her hands aside and carefully dabs at her eyes for her, his smile looking almost a little melancholy as he tucks the handkerchief away. 

She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him into a crushing hug, burying her face in his shoulder as he wraps his arms around her waist. 

"I love you, Varric," she says to him. "Thank you for _everything_ you've done for me, for being my family, and especially for this." 

He chuckles wetly, pulling back and letting her go, smoothing out his clothes as he pretends his eyes aren't as red as hers. "You don't have to thank me for any of that shit Hawke... But I love you too." 

She smiles as she stands back up. 

Bethy has disappeared and the kids are about to walk out. She nervously brushes off her skirt before taking Varric's hand again, waiting until Kieran and Leta walk out hand in hand. Kieran keeps her from stumbling and her baby enthusiastically starts pulling the entire heads off the flowers she holds and throwing them to the ground. 

Varric is snickering beside her right before they walk out behind them.

He's smirking as Leta throws her flowers, looking proud as she walks with Kieran and he hears the Iron Bull's quiet rumbling chuckle.

He's still surprised by the friendship he found with the man. 

His idle thoughts stop short as Varric and Lennox follow them out. 

She looks... beautiful. She meets his eyes and her smile goes bright and soft and _happy_, much happier than she has for the past month and it makes some tense, fearful thing inside him relax as he returns her smile. 

As Kieran and Leta reach the arch Leta seems to forget her directions and follows Kieran towards him and Morrigan. He smiles at her as she grasps on to his pants, giving him a toothy smile as she holds out a remarkably still intact flower. Her little baby curls have started escaping the ribbon Bethany had tied them with, and he can't help himself from reaching down to scoop her up, drawing a laugh from their guests. 

She giggles happily and shoves her flower behind his ear before they both turn to watch Lennox walk towards them, laughter in her eyes as she watches them. 

When she reaches the arch she squeezes Varric's hand with a wink before he leaves her for his seat. 

She can't seem to help but lean forward to loudly kiss Leta on the cheek, drawing another laugh from those around them and one from Leta herself. She easily takes her from him and passes her off to Bethany before meeting his eyes with a gentle smile. 

He takes her hands in his and feels practically breathless to be standing there, marrying the love of his life. 

Her smile widens like she can hear his thoughts, but he has no doubt they're written plainly enough over his face in this moment. 

They turn to Maeve as she starts speaking, a string of Elvish he doesn't recognize and then surprising him by moving into Tevene, before seemingly repeating herself a final time in Common. 

"In some places, marriage and bonding in this way is a means to wealth, or legacy, or power. But today, it is a means to love and a promise from now until the end - and beyond." She pauses before smiling at them. "Knowing these two, I'm sure they'll find their way into trouble even after they pass." 

There are more than a few snickers amongst those gathered and he can't help chuckling at Lennox' smirk. 

"You each have a gift to present to the other now; to symbolize yourselves and show that you are giving yourself into the trust, protection, and love of the other," Maeve said, gesturing to the boxes that Shay and Morrigan hand them each. "They will present their gift and explain how it represents them, and what they are giving of themselves to their partner and their bond. Which one of you would like to go first?" 

He clears his throat nervously as he meets her eyes, carefully opening the box for her. 

"You are well aware of the pain I have experienced in my life... But from the moment I met you, you have constantly amazed and confounded me," there is a snort of laughter from one of their guests, "persistently defying everything I had come to expect from the world." 

He lifts the necklace out, letting Morrigan take the box from him. A small pendant-sized sword hangs from a chain, a striking replica of the sword she once presented him in Kirkwall but for the small, shining fissures that run across the silver metal. 

"I commissioned this from Dagna and asked her to thread just a small amount of lyrium into it. She assured me it was perfectly safe," he explained, watching her as she cradled the pendant and ran gentle fingers over it. "I made a mistake once, years ago now, that I am still surprised you forgave me for. I give you this as a way to openly declare that I have made my choice, that I have chosen _you_. That I willingly chose to give myself to you and our life, taking everything as it comes - as equals." 

Her eyes are watching him intently as he speaks and he gently pulls the necklace from her hands, stepping closer and carefully clasping it around her neck. As he pulls back he frames her face with his hands. 

"It was you that first taught me what kindness _truly_ looked like, you who offered me my first taste of genuine friendship and affection, and you, who showed me what a real 'home' could look like." He brushes tears away from her eyes and presses their foreheads together. "You have given me everything I had never even thought to _dream_ of wanting. You have given me love, and a family, and a _home_ \- you have made everything I've survived in my life worth it, if only so that I might stand here, at this moment, calling you my _wife_. I will spend every moment, every breath of the rest of my life loving and protecting you, and there is nothing short of Death itself that will keep me from you. You are the woman I love, the mother of my daughter, my Amatus, my life." 

There's a quiet moment after he finishes and he's momentarily surprised when he feels Lennox's hand on his face, brushing away his own tears as she laughs wetly. 

"Shit, Broody." He hears Varric say thickly, though he doubts he was meant to. 

"Well," Lynx says, clearing her throat as she opens her own box, letting him pull the length of red fabric folded inside. "I doubt I'll be as eloquent as that, but... I had a very hard time figuring out what to do for this, and I was talking to Shay and she asked me a frankly fantastic question." 

She gently unknots the red token he had claimed so many years ago, almost reverently unwinding it as she speaks. 

"She asked me what I wanted to give you in life and I had a dozen mundane answers I could have given her, but when I really thought about it the one thing I've most wanted to give you - from almost the moment I met you, is Peace." She carefully tucks the token into her box and passes it to Shay, taking his free hand with both of hers. "I told her that I wanted to give you someplace to set down your anger and fear, and all of the pain you've experienced, even if it's just for a moment. In my life, I've had very good luck and very bad luck in turns, and you've been there with me for a very large portion of those." 

She swallows, looking down as a flash of pain crosses her face and he knows what she's about to bring up. He places the hand holding her gift over the top of hers, covering them with the fabric. 

"When my mother died you told me you didn't know what to say, but that you were there. You held me while I cried and screamed and broke, and when I started to calm down the first thing I saw was the red strip of fabric you always wore," she said. "Did you know I hadn't even known it was my scarf until that moment? When I did I realized you'd been wearing it since that night you left, and it was then I finally understood why you had." 

She pulled her hands free and took the new scarf from him, smiling again. 

"I never told you, but it had been a present from my mother. She gave it to me shortly after we took back the estate," she must have seen the surprise in his eyes because she just winked at him. She stretched the scarf out so that he could see the silvery embroidery on it more clearly; the top half of her family crest and the bottom half seamlessly weaved into a replica of the markings on his chest. "Leta helped with the sewing of course." 

There underneath the modified crest was a little misshapen flower that made him smile as he looked over at the toddler happily snuggled in her aunt's arms. 

"I want you to know how much your support and protection means to me, and I want this gift to remind you that no matter what happens, I will be at your back to give just the same." She wrapped the new scarf around his wrist, smoothing out the fabric after she'd tied it. "No one has ever made me feel the way you do, has ever made me feel as safe. If I can ever give you even half the sense of security you've given me, I will go to the Beyond satisfied. Lothering and Kirkwall will always be my homes, but the greatest home I have ever found or made is the family we've created, together. I love you." 

He takes her hands in his again, unable to help himself from pulling her close and kissing her cheeks. She smiles widely when his lips brush her left cheek and he sees her shoot a quick glance at Shay, who rolls her eyes. 

"Okay! There's literally nothing I could say to top all that, so!" Maeve smiles at them, dropping the rings Varric procured for them into their hands. "Does any Divine being wish ill upon this couple? No? Good! Because even if one did these two would probably try to kill them, and it's been such a lovely ceremony." 

There was a round of almost nervous chuckles. Maeve takes one of their hands in each of hers, giving them a gentle squeeze. 

"Today is for Fenris and Lennox, and by the power vested in me, by me, and also sort of the Divine Herself - I pronounce you tamaris, tamisan; two together, two as one." She releases their hands and they slip the rings on each other's fingers. He can't help but think it feels anything less than _perfect_. "I think this is the part in most weddings where the couple kisses." 

Lennox is still laughing as his lips seal over hers. His arms curl around her waist to pull her close, her arms draping easily over his shoulders as she melts into the kiss. 

There are some hoots and cheers, and an unnecessarily loud whistle from the Qunari standing behind him. When he breaks the kiss they're both breathless and smiling like fools. 

Leta makes a sound from Bethany's arms and Lennox turns to snatch their daughter from her sister's arms, spinning back around so that Leta has the opportunity to place a loud kiss on both of their cheeks. Happily squirming in their arms and hopelessly wrinkling her dress, her flower crown sitting precariously on her head. 

He's not sure he's ever smiled this widely in his life, but he feels no shame in the happiness he feels here. His wife and daughter in his arms, his family and friends making loud sounds of congratulations around them. 

At this moment he can tell himself that everything they've lived through has led them here, and not a hint of bitterness taints it.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact! As far as I know, this is the 2nd longest fic I've ever written! ♥  
I hope you enjoyed! Please feel free to leave a comment, I always reply and they make my week! ^^  
You can find me on tumblr at [ElvhenWitch](http://www.elvhenwitch.tumblr.com) ♥ and twitter at [Elfbich](https://twitter.com/elfbich)


End file.
